Tuesday, April 18, 2006

News about Business Owners

It seems to take forever for the Census Bureau to release the data from its Survey of Business Owners, part of the economic censuses fielded by the bureau every five years. The 2002 survey results are flowing now, with the report on black-owned businesses released today. The report shows a 45 percent increase in the number of black-owned firms between 1997 and 2002. The nation's 1.2 million black-owned businesses generated $89 billion in revenue.

The report on the 1.6 million Hispanic-owned businesses was released by the bureau in March. The number of Hispanic-owned firms increased by 31 percent between 1997 and 2002, and they generated $222 billion in revenue in 2002. The report on Asian-owned businesses is scheduled for release soon.

For those who want to analyze the nation's 6.5 million women-owned businesses, the detailed report was released in January. Firms owned by women account for 30 percent of all non-farm businesses in the U.S.

ABOUT ME

Demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Press, Cheryl Russell is the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine and The Boomer Report. She has written numerous books about demographic trends. Ms. Russell is a professional demographer with a master's degree from Cornell University.